Recipe for Hope

Answer EACH question.  Think your answers through carefully.  Think now before we spend money!    New businesses that fail ( most new start-up businesses do fail )  simply had a quickly put together  plan on paper, but they were not really prepared for what was coming.  We want you prepared!  We want you to think everything through, over and over.  We say, “think it through frontwards and backwards.”  And since we will be putting in money, we want you to be ready for success—or we lose our money!

If you give us a quick answer that does not show us you have thought deeply, we won’t think you are ready to do a good job managing our money.

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1. Will there be an actual cost for the space.?  
    

2. Who will be there to serve customers?  
    

3. How many hours a day will business be open?  
   
    MARKET ANALYSIS
    

4. Who will you promote to (give flyers, tell about your business, etc.)?
    

5. In relationship to your business, where are other similar businesses located?
    

6. In relationship to your business, where are your potential clients located ( schools, offices, etc )?
    

7. Approximately how many potential clients exist in the market where you want to start this business?
   
   (example: there are 2 high schools with approximately 500 students each, and 1 university with approximately 1,000 students,  and 3 office complexes with approximately 300 employees...etc)
    

8. Can you get on radio free with a "Public Service Announcement"?  
    

9. Can you visit local businesses and see if they will use your service?
    

10. Are you planning to use any profits from the business for personal living expenses in the first year?
    
    (the answer to # 10 should be “no”.  Do not plan to “have the business feed you” in the first year. Put all money made back into the business.  Later you can take out profits, but not in the first year.)
    
    PROJECTED CASH FLOW:  
     

11. How much business you plan to generate in the first week?
     

12. How much do you plan to generate in the second week?
     

13. How much do you plan to generate in the third week? 
     

14. How much do you plan to generate in the fourth week?
     

15. How much do you plan to generate in the second month?
     

16. How much do you plan to generate in the third month?
     

17. How much do you plan to generate in the fourth month?
     

18. Who are these customers?  
     

19. Did anyone else try a business like this?  Who?
     

20. What did you learn when you talked to them and asked for advice for  your new business?
     

21. Can you Skype with us?
    
    We will need to communicate with you—cheaply.  Skype calling capacity will be a necessity.  Dr. Epps speaks English and some Spanish.  His partners speak Haitian-Creole, French, Spanish and English.
     

22. How many business will be near enough to you that your customers can go to your competition if they want to?
     

23. What will you offer that your competition does not offer?
    
    (This is about WHY will customers come to you and not to your competitors)
     

24. Who is your “average” customer?      
    
    (Tell us their income, education level and residence location)  
     

25. How will you and your partners share the work load?
     

26. How will you share the profits?
     

27. Make up some examples of your bookkeeping.  We want you to make a sample of how you will record income and expenses in the business and show them to us.  After we see your samples, we will offer some suggestions.  
     

28. Who will keep your books?        Have you already discussed this with them?
     

29. How much time will it take each day?     Each week?      Each month?
     

30. What bank will you use?  
     

31. Do any of you have an account there now?
     

32. Are you willing to take our advice and apply the advice in your business?

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From the video course: “How To Start A Micro Business” by Dr. Jerry Dean Epps, Ph. D.